


lost but found (a fanfic that lowkey sounds like smut on the downlow but isnt i promise)

by olrazzzledazzzle



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 23:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13669851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olrazzzledazzzle/pseuds/olrazzzledazzzle
Summary: dan loses his soulmate, phil never had one but he's trying his best, the following is what ensues, its p gay.





	lost but found (a fanfic that lowkey sounds like smut on the downlow but isnt i promise)

**Author's Note:**

> warnings: swearing, a bit getting drunk, excessive amounts of fluff, i think thats it ??  
> \----  
> this is a fic for elizajane/snowbunnylester on tumblr for the phandom secret valentines event !! i had loads of fun making this fic so, elizajane, im so nervous but i rly rly rly rly hope u like it !! i cant believe i got assigned to someone so iconic and someone i literally look up to so so much, it lowkey kinda blew my mind tbh cause youre just sO gO Od ???? anyways i asked a while ago, so this is a partial sort of hurt/comfort fic, but mostly a soulmate one cause those were two of the answers i felt i could make best. i really enjoyed writing it actually, id never written a soulmate au before and im in l o v e. i know i definitely dont live up to a God like yourself but,,,,,, i tried my best 
> 
> thank
> 
> enjoy !! pls let me know how you think !!

It was said that if you didn’t have a tattoo of the name of your soulmate by the time you were eighteen, you were probably going to die alone. 

It was the harsh truth but nobody ever really saw the point in sugarcoating it, especially for those who, unfortunately, had to endure the shitty words they got for them not having a love of their life or a forever someone. May as well have them know their fate right off the bat, right? 

You got the name of your soulmate somewhere on your body after or around the time you’ll meet, and that’s how you know, but it was always before you turned an adult. Or...whatever. However that worked? Honestly, Phil didn’t really pay attention to the classes about soulmates much.../especially/ the closer and closer his birthday got. The word, that dreaded ‘S’ word, would be written somewhere on the board when he entered the room and he’d always look down at his body in shame. He was the /only/ one he knew of in all his classes that didn’t have one yet, he was almost sure of it. He talked to lots of people, too, he was good at all talk with others. Everybody had one. Except Phil. He didn’t. He /especially/ didn’t want to be buried in a casket alone, or worse- be laid to rest — for /eternity/ — in a room-for-one grave! 

It was a blasted November day, merely three months before Phil reached eighteen. The clouds hung heavily over campus, the world seemed diluted and drained of colour. Phil didn’t particularly want to be out of bed today — today was one of those days meant only for hot chocolate and movies with some of your best friends. Definitely not for getting up for classes.

It seemed Phil’s his mind was foggier than usual too, but that was probably just from the weather. When the sun was gone, his bubbliness, generally, was too. It sucked because Phil never got work done on these days, usually opting more to talk to and distract his peers over anything. 

As soon as he walked into the room of his first period, so many things were off — or, rather, just unpleasant. It was darker than usual in the room, thanks to the darkness outside, /how does this weird soulmate thing work anyways/ was written on the board and Dan wasn’t in his usual place. PJ and Chris and Louise and Zoe were all in their places, but Dan wasn’t around. Phil frowned as he walked up to their usual table, two seats — right next to each other — open. 

“Phil!” PJ called as he noticed their friend walk up. “Why’re you frowning? God, I know it’s early but you look so sad.” 

“Where’s Dan?” Phil asked, shrugging his backpack off his shoulders and taking his jacket off. “Has nobody heard from him?” Everyone sitting around the table shook their heads. There were /five/ of them and nobody knew why he wasn’t at school? He’d never missed class — at least, /very/ rarely, and it was usually really important or crucial to miss when he did. The only times Phil could really remember him missing classes were for deaths or funerals or /maybe/ going out of town on a trip, and as far as Phil knew, none of those things had happened. 

Maybe he’d just turn up late.

The class started, Dan still wasn’t there, and Phil’s mind was wandering elsewhere. His tablemates sent him /those/ glances every so often because they knew how uncomfortable these kinds of classes could be for him — after all, he was the only one without a soulmate. PJ had Chris (and vice-versa), Louise had Liam, Zoe had Alfie. Even Dan had someone — Sophie — though Phil didn’t know much of her.

But it didn’t really bother him much anymore. The classes were just boring. 

Okay, maybe it bothered him a /bit/. He just didn’t understand why he didn’t get one. Like, was he not /suited/ for a soulmate? Why was he the /only/ person he knew of without a tattoo of someone's name on his body somewhere? 

And trust him - it’s not like he’d miss it if he suddenly got one. He scanned his body before he fell asleep and in the morning when he woke up /just in case/ he’d missed it, every single day without fail, but it was hopeless. You’d know if you got it, considering apparently it was really painful but /apparently/ really worth it. 

Phil remembered, in year six or so, when a girl in his class got her tattoo, right in the middle of a quiz. She had /obviously/ tried to make sure it wasn’t very evident but Phil was sat right across the table from her, and her small whines and hisses of pain were unmistakable. 

And if nothing else was obvious enough, the irritated, red skin on her collarbone that peaked out from her white uniform proved it. He couldn’t see the ink itself but the red skin was enough. She’d gotten a soulmate. Although he didn’t feel jealous back then when it happened (because loads of people still didn’t have one in year six, he wasn’t too worried then), if it were to have happened today, he probably would’ve started to cry. 

What?! He was kind of jealous. 

Phil felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, snapping him out of his gaze down at the wooden table. As if trying to be stealthy about grabbing his phone, he glanced up at the professor multiple times — he could see him but his ears were drowning out the words — before looking down at his phone. Dan texted him. 

‘phillll’

‘are you able to get out of class??’ 

‘i really really need you to come and get me’ 

‘please??’

‘ugh k nevermind’ 

Phil brought his phone up to the table, beside his binder, out of sight from the prof, and kicked PJ’s leg. PJ snapped his head from the board to Phil, an irritated look on his face. “What, Phil?” 

All Phil did was slide his phone, open on his and Dan’s message thread, over to PJ to read. “Do I go and get him? I can’t really get out of class,” He whispered, catching glance of the prof again. “I don’t know what he’s done this time, either. What if he’s in trouble with the law or something? I can’t bail him out of prison or anything?!” 

The class was dismissed from the speaking portion to talk with their tables about the content, and Louise, Chris and Zoe all turned their heads to PJ and Phil talking. “What if who’s in trouble? Who the fuck are we talking about?” 

“And he’s said literally nothing else to you? Nothing last night, not this morning..?” PJ asked, squinting his eyes, picking up Phil’s phone. He scrolled up in the message thread jokingly, and Phil immediately took his phone back. 

“No, he’s said nothing else and damn you, don’t go through our messages!” He exclaimed, setting his phone back down on the table. 

“Who are we talking about!” Chris prodded, raising his arms exaggeratedly. 

Louise and Phil both rolled their eyes at the same time while Zoe immediately buried her face in her phone. Phil wouldn't even need to bet it was because Alfie had a spare this period. “If I had to guess, Dan?” Louise raised her eyebrows, leaning over to Phil as if to read his screen. 

“Ding, ding. He told me he needed to be picked up from somewhere? No context though, I don’t even know where he is. He /actually/ didn’t talk to any of you guys?” 

Nobody admitted to Dan having spoken to them in the past twelve or so hours. 

“Right, then. I’m gonna see what’s up I guess, don’t have much more of a choice,” Phil mumbled, picking his phone back up, starting to compose a message. He settled on an easy, ‘where are you and why do you need me to pick you up?’ 

Three or four minutes passed before his phone finally buzzed again. Phil’s heart skipped a beat at the vibrations. 

‘ok so im at that park near sophies house and i really don’t know how it happened but i don’t have her tattoo anymore and she got mad and now i’m outside and it’s fucking cold please send help’ 

“Guys, guys,” Phil scanned over the message, his eyebrows furrowed softly, “what the hell?” 

“What? What happened? Did Dan reply?” PJ asked quickly, reaching out for the phone in Phil's hand, setting his pen down on the table. “What’d he say?” 

Phil read the text aloud. By the end of the run-on message, everyone had similar looks of concern and worry on their faces. “You can /lose/ a tattoo?!” 

“Sir,” Chris leaned back on his chair, his eyes still wide, raising his arm in the air. “Sir, are you able to /lose/ a tattoo?” From underneath his long sleeve shirt that was riding up, you could see the familiar ink of PJ’s name on his forearm. Phil stared at it. Hard. 

The professor walked over to Phil’s table, shaking his head. “I’ve never heard of it, but you’ve got no reason to worry, Chris. Your tattoo is still in perfect condition, I can see.” 

PJ shook his head and exhaled exaggeratedly, pushing his chair out from the table, looking up at the middle-aged man. “No, but Dan apparently lost his. What happened to him?” 

The professor, though surprised at the words, shook his head. “You’re all his best friends, you should know he’s probably just playing around, now get to work please, boys.” 

Well, /that/ was a bust. “U-uh, sir, can I go and see Dan? He said he kind of needed me to come and help him.” 

“Is he off campus?” 

“Y- oh, uh, no, he says he’s near the auditorium or something, I’ll just be back in a few minutes?” 

“Alright then. Be back before the bell.” 

Quickly gathering all of his belongings, Phil grabbed his jacket, phone and bag and ran out of the room hurriedly. His mind was racing as made his way out the front doors of the school. How did Dan /lose/ his tattoo? Surely that wasn’t possible. 

The walk was usually five minutes /tops/, but because it was so dreary and ugly, Phil swore his legs were moving slower than usual. Or maybe he was just too engulfed in his thoughts to walk faster. 

When he arrived at the head of the park, he searched around for Dan. His friend was standing hear a tree off to the side of the grass, his thumbs flying across his keyboard on his phone. Phil ran to Dan, nearly tripping over his own shoes — “Dan!”

Dan turned around at Phil’s voice, trudging slowly over to his friend. He stuffed his phone in his pocket so it wouldn’t distract him. When he finally arrived in front of the taller of them, he bit down nervously on his lip. “I’m sorry I had you leave class, I just...didn’t know at all what to do, I guess? I’m really scared, I have no idea what’s happened. I’ve never heard of this happening before..” 

Phil shook his head, wrapping his arms around his friend immediately. “None of that. I’m sure you’ll be fine, okay? Is..is it actually, like, /gone/?” He asked softly, running a hand through Dan’s dark curls. 

The smaller of them pulled away and zipped down his jacket, pulling up his sweatshirt. Where the tattoo usually was...it was /blank/. 

Phil had only seen Dan’s tattoo a few times. Sophie’s name was earlier written across his left hip bone, it had been since, what, year nine or so? Sometimes in the changerooms after phys-ed, he’d sneak a look at it as Dan’s shorts hung low on his hips and sometimes he’d even gotten lucky enough to simply see it as Dan’s shirt rode up too high. It didn’t help that Dan had really nice hip bones, either. Generally Phil tried to keep his staring to a very small minimum though, because Dan had a soulmate already and would probably find this meaningless puppy-crush a /bit/ weird. Call Phil cliché but he didn’t want to ruin their friendship over it. 

“I seriously had no fucking idea when it even disappeared, I never felt anything happen? Like, okay, so last night we were, like, kind of tipsy together and sort of, y’know, /excited/, and she took my shirt off and she saw my hip and Jesus Christ, /she lost her shit/. I’ve never seen her so angry, fucking yelled at me as if it was /my/ fault!” Dan rambled as he let go of the fabric, zipping his jacket back up to protect from the cold. “So after she calmed down a bit, we took /her/ shirt off and sure e-fucking-nough, hers is gone too. She let me stay overnight but made me leave this morning and I really didn’t want to go to school.” 

Phil was perplexed. He didn’t know that was even possible. Obviously he was sad for his friend and it really sucked, but he couldn’t help but feel a sliver of happiness at the same time. He wasn’t alone anymore. And..and that gave Phil a /tiny/ bit more of a chance with Dan now- 

Okay, no, he seriously needed to chill the fuck out. 

Apparently it was serious though, and he really needed to help with it soon. Dan was rambling — always a sign of him being nervous or upset. 

“Okay. Okay, yeah, we can figure this out, right? Maybe..soulmates can fall out of love or something? We can look it up?” Dan shook his head at Phil's words. 

“I’ve already looked it up, do you really think I wouldn’t have? Google told me it’s probably too many issues in the relationship or, like you said, maybe falling out of love with them. I really fucking loved her though, I don’t /know/ why it would’ve happened? We were so happy together, Phil!” Dan cried, collapsing back into Phil’s chest, a short hiccup escaping his lips. “I’m so pissed. She hates me. It’s not like I did something wrong…I didn’t do anything, right? I don’t want to fucking die alone. My birthday in, like, eight months! What are the odds I get a new soulmate in that time?” 

Phil’s heart dropped. Damn, if Dan thought he wouldn’t be able to get one by June, what were odds Phil would be able to get one by /January/?! “Dan, you need to calm down. Maybe it was meant to happen! Maybe you guys really weren’t as compatible as you once thought, okay? I’m positive you’ll get a new tattoo soon.” 

Still hiccuping in Phil’s chest, Phil wasn’t sure Dan had even heard what he said. “Uh, right...I’m gonna call PJ and tell him I won’t be able to make it back to school I think, okay? I can take you to my house, we can eat pizza and watch sad movies and stuff?” Phil suggested, and Dan nodded slowly. 

“Please.”  
—  
The whole walk back to Phil’s house was quiet. 

Well, as quiet as Dan weeping over the situation and Phil softly trying his best to comfort him could’ve been.

When they got inside, they both ridded themselves of their bags and jackets and shoes at the front door. Phil sent Dan upstairs while he stood at the foot of the staircase, dialing PJ’s number, hoping he’d pick up soon so Dan wouldn’t have to wait. 

“Are you coming back to school or no?” Was PJ’s immediate response to picking up the phone. “Is Dan alright?” 

“I’m not coming back, no, Dan’s..uh, I dunno, sad? Sort of wrecked? I told him I’d keep him home and eat pizza and stuff with him today. Can you guys manage without us?” Phil spoke quickly, his voice hushed and quiet to assure Dan wouldn’t hear their conversation. 

PJ sighed on the other side of the line, though hesitantly agreed. “Okay. Tell him we all hope he feels better. We’ll be fine. Wish I could sit around and eat pizza instead of doing this shit today. Fuck, okay, gotta go, have fun!” 

The line went dead, and Phil ran upstairs before Dan was left alone too long. He pushed the door to his bedroom open and lo and behold Dan, already curled up on his bed. “Dan?” Phil questioned from the doorway. God, he felt so bad for him. As much as he felt comfort in now having someone else without a tattoo, he also didn’t want that kind of shit to happen to best friend. Dan deserved happiness and a relationship and Sophie and a soulmate — not the pain he was going to get. 

Dan didn’t respond. He felt kind of like sleeping, kind of like crying more. He really just wanted to have his tattoo back so none of this would’ve needed to happen — why /him/? Why did he, out of everyone in the world, deserve this? 

“Dan, seriously, you’ve got to work with me here a bit...I know it’s difficult but c’mon..”

A reluctant huff of breath was heard from the younger of the two. “Not to be a dick or anything, but, like, you’ve never even had a tattoo. This is probably about a million times worse than that. Getting your hopes up then having it leave? It feels pretty shit.” Dan sat up from Phil’s bed, not having realized how insulting that probably was. “Not- fuck, I fucked that up, not like it’s /bad/ to not have one, but..y'know, it’s really hard being so happy and then /this/ happening..” 

Phil knew better than to take it personally. Dan…wasn’t always the nicest when he was angry or upset and often said things he really didn’t mean — Phil knew him well enough to understand. And yeah, he had a fair reason to be upset about what happened, too. “I know. It must be really bad, I know, but hey, now we’re both tattooless? We can confide in each other…the soulmateless soulmates, or something like that.” 

Swallowing and letting out a strained laugh, Dan brought a hand up to his face and wiped his eyes dry. “Sure, you fuck, yes, /the soulmateless soulmates/. Totally legit, because we’re so /totally/ soulmates.” Dan joked, another huff escaping his lips. 

If only he wasn’t joking. Phil’s lips were turned up in a grin as he tried to ignore the retort, walking over from the doorway to his TV stand, grabbing the remote and shuffling over to the bed. He sat himself next to Dan, “what’dya wanna watch, then? We’ve got to make staying home all day worthwhile with some good tele, right?” 

Dan nodded, wiping at his eyes one last time, letting out a soft sigh. “There’s been nothing good on lately- well, assuming we’ve still got the same channels. What time is it?” 

Phil checked his phone. “Just after ten.” 

“Fuck,” Dan murmured, groaning. “It’s so early still! What the hell are we supposed to do all day?” 

“I don’t know.” 

Dan groaned again. “Can we keep looking up tattoos? I want to feel comforted in the fact that this hasn’t only happened to me.” 

Getting up and grabbing his laptop from the floor, Phil prayed to every God he knew of that it'd be charged. The sticker-filled computer wasn’t exactly /new/ and had a shit ton of problems. He really needed a new one. 

Just minutes later, the two seventeen-year-olds were sitting, shoulder to shoulder on Phil’s duvet, staring at the screen. They were reading various articles on how to cope with losing a tattoo, what happens if you lose a tattoo, if Dan would ever get one back, what happens if you /never/ get one, even how to cope with the death of a soulmate. 

The last article was kind of irrelevant but the content still helped, they supposed. 

Phil couldn’t seem to tear his mind off of the fact that Dan’s hip was ink-free now. He didn’t have a drop of ink on his skin anymore, just like Phil. As Dan started to feel more comforted by all of the threads of people that had similar experiences, Phil started to feel less and less guilty of being glad Dan’s had disappeared. If he was honest, he didn’t even like Sophie that much anyway, so aside from Dan being heartbroken, it was kind of a win-win for him. 

“At least it’s happened to other people, right?” Phil comforted, still trying to make sure Dan was feeling alright. He wasn’t /heartless/, after all. Obviously Dan’s feelings about this were more important than his. Plus, this crush had been hidden for a /long/ time, he could keep it under control for longer — maybe even until he got a tattoo himself, then the crush would /have/ to die down. 

He sort of had a type of special pass for crushes though, that was one benefit, because think about it — he could like /anybody/ he wanted and /not/ feel guilty because he wasn’t, like, /bound/ to anyone like everyone else was. 

Usually people who had a crush on someone who wasn’t the one with the name on their skin felt guilty as hell for it. And God, Dan was really guilty of having that happen to him, if he was honest. He hadn’t known Sophie until the start of this year, so...three months? It was a long time between year nine and now - he was bound to start to like somebody else in the meantime, no matter how bad he felt about it. 

“Yeah. That’s good. Most people usually get over it too, which is /also/ good. It’s like a really bad breakup.” Dan informed, leaning his head on Phil’s shoulder as he scrolled further down on whatever number page they were on by now. “‘Cause you know how people who aren’t soulmates date for, like, practice for the real thing or whatever and sometimes they fall in love, then one of them meets their real soulmate and the breakup is really bad? Apparently that’s kind of how it feels.” 

Phil only nodded at the information he was being told. Dan hadn’t leaned his head on Phil for, well…probably since before Sophie met Dan, and he was way, /way/ too focused on it to pay attention to anything Dan was trying to say after it. His stomach was fluttering with a myriad of butterflies and he had a sickly sweet blush on his face. Perks of not having a tattoo, he guessed. He could feel this with anyone, /anyone/ at all, and his mind decides it just /has/ to be with his grieving best friend. 

Great. 

He was used to it though. He could deal with this.  
—  
Dan and Sophie were the talk of the whole school the next day. Not in a bad way, necessarily, more so in a ‘how in the hell can /that/ happen?!’ kind of way. They were like celebrities or something, and the ‘breakup’ was almost /worth/ all of the attention. 

They were both able to slack on work because their teachers felt so bad for them, they were getting so much attention and popularity from everything that had happened. A few people had even asked Dan to confirm he hadn’t had a tattoo anymore, and sure enough, even a day later, it hadn’t returned. 

It was pretty evident it wouldn’t come back, and as cool as being /popular/ for a day was, Dan was still heartbroken about the whole fiasco. Dan found a hell of a lot of comfort in Phil that day, considering they both shared tattooless bodies and it was the only person Dan knew of who was like him in real life. He hoped Phil wouldn’t get a tattoo so they could share this together, in a way. Was he a bad friend? Probably, but it helped him, he supposed. 

After the school day had ended and Dan was officially exhausted from so much interaction with others, he went home with Phil again, except Chris and PJ had tagged along as well. It’d be like old days, where the four of them hung out day and night together. They used to be inseparable before Chris and PJ found out they were each other’s soulmates in year eight. 

They ordered in takeout Chinese food and drank God-awful beer Phil’s parents had in the fridge and played video games and once it was too late (around midnight) to stay concentrated on games, they set out beds and all sat together on the ground, talking about Dan and Sophie. 

Phil hadn’t participated much in the conversation. He didn’t have /any/ experience with having a soulmate and Goddamnit, maybe it was the moonlight or just the time or maybe the even beer that was making him practically eye-fuck Dan? He’d blame it on the alcohol in the morning, but for now…/damn/. 

He opted to mostly stay quiet and stare secretly. Or…well, no-so-secretly, considering after Dan had passed out, Chris and PJ had both immediately questioned him about it. 

“Phil? You’re still awake, right?” Chris and PJ were laying next to each other, curled up tightly within one another, giggling silently. Dan and Phil, on the other hand, were sprawled out on Phil’s bed, keeping some sort of personal space. “Seriously be honest, what was with you looking at Dan that way? I swear you were fuckin’ eye-raping him all night.” Chris giggled again. 

Phil was thankful his face wasn’t visible to the couple. His cheeks were flushed a dark red because shit, if they noticed, /surely/ Dan must have noticed as well? “W-what do you mean?” 

“Do you like Dan or something?” PJ asked, but his voice wasn’t necessarily condescending or had any laces of teasing in it. He simply sounded so genuinely curious, as opposed to Chris who couldn’t keep the laughs from escaping. “You- you do! You must!”

Phil tensed up slightly. Yeah, sure, he’d liked Dan, that much was obvious. And he’d come to terms with it too, but that didn’t mean it was easy to admit to it, by any means. “No, of course I don’t like Dan, Jesus. He’s literally just gone through a breakup.” 

PJ sighed briefly, shaking his head. Clearly Phil misunderstood what he meant? “You could’ve started to like him before all of this even happened, y’know, plus, you don’t have a soulmate yet. I’m really just curious! I..I think it’d be kind of cute, right, Chris?” Chris hummed in agreement. “Like...maybe you /both/ not having tattoos was how it was supposed to end up. You’re maybe not /ordinary/ soulmates, but you’re still meant to be together, you know? At any rate, I support you guys, whether you like Dan or not. Just telling you we both approve. Whatever, think about it, at least? We’ve got classes tomorrow though so we’d better sleep. Night, Phil.” 

Hell if Phil got a fucking /wink/ of sleep after what PJ had told him. 

Did he like Dan? Yes, most definitely. Did he secretly pray PJ’s stupid theory was right, and that them both not having tattoos was meant to be? He’d by lying if he said no. Did he want to tell Dan though? Hell no. 

If it wasn’t obvious enough, Phil had these nervous thoughts plaguing his mind the entire night everyone else was fast asleep, and he was damn exhausted the next day.  
—  
It didn’t get any easier over the duration of the next few weeks for Dan. They were approaching December break now, and he /still/ didn’t have a new name. He was convinced he’d get it while on the vacation he was going to take back home for Christmas — he prayed every night that he’d get to meet her while away from  
home. 

Plus, Sophie got a new tattoo just days after the breakup. That /destroyed/ Dan — his name hadn’t reappeared. Needless to say, experiencing Dan’s fits of sadness didn’t get any easier. If anything, they only got harder for Phil to deal with. He started staying home with Dan because he was too sad to go to school but he didn’t trust him to be alone all day. He started missing assignments to stay with Dan and comfort him — which, honestly, didn’t help with the crush that was quickly growing more and more intense and harder to deal with. 

God, Dan moaned about being forever alone so much, so often. For good reason, Phil supposed, but it /hurt/, damnit! He didn’t have a tattoo /at all/ — how was he supposed to feel about all of this? At least Dan found comfort in Phil…he was glad to be able to provide that to his grieving friend at least. 

On December the thirteenth, Dan skipped school. Again. Phil stayed home with him, too. They were sat in Phil’s basement as the minutes progressed; Phil was bored out of his fucking mind — he’d probably rather be at school at this point, actually getting work done. Dan’s breakup angst was getting aggravating. Could he not get over it? He knew Sophie for all of, what, three months? She’d moved on. Why couldn’t Dan? Clearly he and Sophie weren’t meant to be together — it was really as simple as that, was it not? 

...Okay, fine, maybe that was just Phil’s jealousy and slight frustration speaking, but /still/. He couldn’t dwell on it forever! 

Dan laid his head on Phil’s lap as he drowned out the noise of the tele, letting out a harsh huff of breath. He didn’t even know if Phil listened to his complaints anymore. Truth be told, if he were Phil, he probably would’ve gotten flipped out at himself /ages/ ago.“I don’t want to go back to school. Like, ever. She’ll be all fucking /over/ that new guy and I’ll probably have a breakdown every time I see her.” 

Phil bowed his head to look down at Dan on his lap. “It’ll get better, I reckon. You’ve got to at least go back to school before the break and get all your missing work, right?” He raised his eyebrows at Dan when he violently shook his head. 

“Maybe I can move away. I’ll change my name and fly down to Scotland or India or- better yet, shit, I could go to Canada and nobody will ever know me! Canada practically doesn’t even exist!” He exclaimed, excitedly flailing his arms in the air, almost hitting Phil in the face. “Sorry, sorry. Got a l’il too excited about my new plans to move away.” 

“You’re not moving away. I’m sure you’ll find your soulmate soon, okay?” Phil muttered, “besides, who would sit and watch tele with me if you left? Nobody. Everyone else has their soulmates to spend time with now. ‘Specially Chris and PJ. I’m everybody’s third wheel.”

Dan frowned. “That’s not true.” 

“It is true, and, well, you wouldn’t really know, ‘cause you had Sophie. Everyone’s so focused on immediately finding their soulmate anyway. Why does everything have to be so love-centric? It’s /stupid/. Once someone finds their soulmate, all they do is just isolate themselves from their old friends to flirt and fuck them. It’s /lame/, Dan. Why not just enjoy your life as you live it and eventually you’ll find them? If you’re soulmates, you’re bound to cross paths someday, no? You’ve got, like, eighty years left to find her, please quit moaning about it.” 

Dan frowned deeper, freezing in place. “Okay, geez. Tell me how you /really/ feel,” he retorted sarcastically as he rolled his eyes, sitting up from Phil’s lap, situating himself so they weren’t so close. He shouldn’t dare be near Phil when he was pissed — he’s learnt from experience. 

Phil, too, frowned. “It’s not just at you. It’s everybody. And it’s ridiculous. I don’t want to die alone any less than you do. I’m way less likely to get a tattoo than you, too. I’m sure you’ll leave me when you find your actual soulmate. Everyone else does.” 

“I’m not like everyone else, Phil. I’m not ordinary, and neither are you. That’s why we’ve been best friends for so long!” Dan whipped his head around to look at Phil. The older boy’s head was bowed and he was staring at his lap, his hands fidgeting in his lap. “You’re so not going to die alone. You’re too good for that. You’ll..you’ll find someone, trust me.” 

How do you even know that? Dan can’t predict the future. Phil didn’t know why he was trying to fill him with empty promises, because he /wouldn’t/ find somebody. He never would. Dan would and he wouldn’t. That’s how the world wanted it. “PJ thinks you’ll be able to find somebody too.” 

“Since when?” 

“Since..I don’t know. The day after you and Sophie broke up.” 

Dan snapped his head around again. “Who did he have in mind, then?” Now this was getting interesting. What had Phil not told him? 

“Nobody,” Phil assured quickly, shaking his head, a nervous, sad sort of laugh escaping his lips. “Nobody. He just thinks you’ll be able to find somebody, ‘cause you’re obviously too good to /not/.” 

Dan felt a small grin appear on his face. “I guess I’ll just ask PJ about it if you won’t tell me, then.” 

Phil shook his head violently, his eyes widening. “N-no need, why would you ask him about it?” He questioned, his breath hitching in his throat. He did not like his best friend for all these years for it to come out /now/. 

“Because there’s obviously something you’re not telling me?” 

Phil hesitated. “...It’s weird.” 

There it was. 

“So there /is/ something!” Dan exclaimed, shifting closer to Phil’s body. Deep down, he had a feeling he knew what it was, but his conscious mind hadn’t really processed that possibility yet. He knew Phil was generally more reserved and private, but /still/, this was clearly something that Dan had a right to know about. It was kind of about him, after all. “Tell me! You have to tell me. We’ve gotten /this/ far!” 

Phil swallowed thickly. “He was just, like, when you fell asleep the last time we all slept over together. He..said maybe it’s, like, /meant to be/, or something, that we both don’t have tattoos. Like..like the soulmateless soulmates thing. It’s so stupid, right? PJ’s so stupid,” he muttered breathlessly, shaking his head by the end of it. Had he just /kind of/ admitted to a crush? Fuck, he was so /fucked/…

Silence. Dan was smirking softly, but he kept his mouth promptly shut for a few moments. Why was Phil so embarrassed about it? Dan probably would’ve told Phil the very next day and laughed about it because it was- 

Unless…

/Unless Phil believed it too./

Suddenly, Dan’s smile dropped, and PJ’s theory took on a whole new meaning in Dan’s head. Phil’s heart rate sped up. Why had Dan gone melancholy and silent all of a sudden? He was smiling and teasing just minutes before. “Say- say something, then.” 

“You believe PJ?” 

“I never said that- w-where’d you get that from?! Don’t put words in my mouth,” Phil shifted his body quickly, turning his back on Dan. He was getting a bit choked up and if he cried, that’d immediately prove all of his pleads of denial wrong. 

Dan hummed silently. “Dunno. I never said it was bad. It’s different, though, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that sort of theory before. Y’know, tattooless soulmates. Although, like, I’m not gay or anything, so..” 

Phil stiffened, squinting his eyes at nothing. Was that /really/ necessary? “I’m not /either/. I told you it was weird and now you’re getting weird about /PJ’s/ theory.” 

“Okay, okay, one, turn around so I can see you, Jesus Christ, two, I'm not getting weird about it at all? You’re the one who thinks I’m getting weird about it. You really need to chill out, and three, I couldn’t care less what your sexuality was, you’ve got no soulmate so far so it doesn’t really matter, I was just /saying/, I’m not gay,” Dan laughed quietly, shaking his head at Phil’s childness. It was getting more and more evident that Phil was feeling passionately about this and Dan was almost positive Phil thought right about PJ’s theory. 

It was kind of cute, after all. Plus, what’s the harm in trying it out? Neither of them were bound to anybody at the moment, it didn’t really matter much if it didn’t work out. It probably wouldn’t affect their friendship really if it didn’t, right

Phil slowly turned around to face Dan, his face bright red. “I’m not getting weird either!” He exclaimed, shaking his head. 

Dan felt a thrill of adrenaline rush through his body. After a moment of quiet, he spoke up. “Come here,” he instructed. Phil only inched closer to Dan’s body, confused. “Closer, you shithead. I wanna test PJ’s theory. Maybe if we make out or have a quicky we’ll get each other’s tattoos, eh? Edge it on a bit.” 

Phil immediately backed away from Dan, because this could absolutely /not/ happen. “We are not kissing, Dan, and we’re also keeping our dicks to ourselves.” He shook his head, standing up from the couch quickly, trying to get as far from this situation as he could. “You’re not at all over Sophie and you. And PJ’s a fucking idiot, his theory is downright ridiculous, we both know it.” 

If it wouldn’t have been bound to cause a shitstorm of emotions, Phil would’ve been all in to kiss Dan or even go further, but he knew he’d only hurt Dan /and/ himself if it happened. With his luck, Dan would get his new soulmate tattoo the literal next day and Phil would be /crushed/. All in all, it was a terrible idea and he really shouldn’t have told Dan about it in the first place. 

“Come on, Phil, what’s the worst that could happen? You kiss somebody? Nothing at all? Nothing changes? We’re not soulmates? You get off? Friends kiss all the time! It really doesn’t matter, it’s way less of a deal than you’re making it out to be.” Dan groaned, standing up after his friend. “Loosen up a bit!” 

Phil shook his head. “No. No, we’re not doing it. It’s a bad idea, Dan, you know you’re just spontaneous and you’ll regret it. We both will. We should get to school.”

In the end, they made their way to school by the beginning of third period, hardly any more words spoken amongst each other and if it wasn’t evident enough, no kisses had been shared. 

Had Phil blown his one shot because he was scared? 

He better fucking not have. He’d /die/ if that was the case…

And shit, if he just passed up his only opportunity to /kiss Daniel fucking Howell/, he was seriously, /seriously/ fucked up.  
—  
After the /incident/, all the way up until Christmas break was held, Dan and Phil’s friendship had some serious strain and tension that was so disgustingly evident by /anybody/ that saw them. They walked further apart, spoke less, seemed to have lost a bit of their natural spark. Dan still didn’t really know why Phil didn’t want to kiss him because he /knew/ it wouldn’t really have any sort of bad consequences. He wished Phil would give his perspective on it, but alas, Phil was mostly the one being distant from Dan. 

It wasn’t even a conscious decision. Phil naturally just got further and talked less and less in conversations and it seemed like he was really /hurt/ about it. Dan just didn’t know /why/ — how was he expected to help if he didn’t know what was wrong? 

A party was about the last thing Phil actually wanted to go to. The Thursday that Christmas break was let out, there was a huge party being hosted by some of the kids from the year above Dan and Phil and their ‘clique’, so Chris, Louise and PJ discussed and thought it’d be good for Dan and Phil to get out together. They said all five of them (Zoe wasn’t going, she was ‘busy with Alfie’. Yeah right, they were able to ‘read between the lines’ but said nothing further about it) would show up.

Phil wouldn’t even have wanted to attend on a good day, so he had no clue why they signed him up for this but whatever made them happy, he supposed. He’d caused them enough grief with his bullshit teenage angst, it was the least he could do. 

“Phil, Phil! Come on, let’s get drinks!” 

It took one round of shots to lead to, like, seven in a matter of what felt like seconds, and Phil was more wasted and free than he thought he’d ever felt. Maybe this /would/ be good for him. 

Then, he heard the dreaded words of that dreaded party game. He knew he didn’t want to play, but damn his friends and knowing perfectly how to peer pressure…

“Aren’t we too old for this game?” Phil called out, though he sat down on the floor, forming better the circle. “Like, Jesus, who still plays fuckin’ spin the bottle? Everyone’s already got a soulmate,” he countered breathlessly, leaning back on his arms. 

“Come on, Phil, don’t be a pussy, you’re the one who should be /most/ up for it, let’s go!”

It passed in a blur after that. Considering Phil’s brain currently consisted of around ninety percent alcohol, it didn’t take much more convincing for him to play the game. He kissed a lot of people, so many people, really, that he couldn’t even remember their names. 

Because Dan and Phil were the iconic duo, they obviously kissed, and it was..fine. As fine as a blurry, alcohol-driven kiss could be. Phil couldn’t remember much of the kiss itself, but he knew it had for sure happened from the force he felt of being thrown into a chair, his shirt coming off and the searing pain on his shoulder after the fact.  
—  
The kiss hadn’t changed much between them immediately. 

Not /immediately/, at least. 

Dan, Chris and PJ all stayed over at Phil’s house until morning, all too drunk to get proper rides home. They all collectively collapsed on Phil’s bed together and slept like babies until morning. The four boys had woken up around noon, their limbs all tangled together on Phil’s bed; Phil, himself, was the first to wake up. 

The very first pain he felt was his head. He was never one to really drink, not nearly much as he had last night anyway, so this was probably the most intense hangover he’d ever felt so far. And it was shit. 

Phil had gotten (well, more clumsily stumbled) out of bed, trying halfheartedly trying to avoid waking his friends, when he opened his eyes, pain in his head and his stomach clenching familiarly. He was the first to go to the bathroom. He’d grab his towel, probably throw up, take some painkillers and take a shower to rinse the memories (or, rather, lack-thereof) from the night before. 

He collapsed at the floor of the bathroom in front of the toilet, retching immediately. He wasn’t feeling good, that was for fucking sure. The floor was cold against his bare skin and it even shocked him a bit, though it was nice compared to the head in his body. 

Once he’d finished the rather disgusting act, he flushed the toilet, stood up shakily and grabbed a few squares of napkin to wipe his mouth. After he was properly stood on his feet, he shakily planted himself in front of the counter, leaning over onto it. He hadn’t remembered getting undressed last night but whatever, honestly, he knew obviously nothing…/bad/ had happened. 

The next pain he felt was in his head too, but for a very different reason. 

Phil let out a scream the second he caught glance of himself in the mirror — and it wasn’t quiet, either. It awoke the three other guys that had been sleeping, even, because just moments later, they came sumbing into the bathroom, heads hurting with hangover and concern for what the fuck that scream was necessary for. 

There, on his shoulder, was ink. 

Not- not any ink, though, it was a /name/. 

And you’ll never guess what it was — /Daniel James Howell/. 

A pretty fit and fair situation for screaming, Phil thought. When his friends burst into the bathroom, he fell against the wall, tears already forming in his eyes. This was the best /fucking/ day of his life! He’d- they’d have to check Dan too! Dan had to have had Phil’s name on his body as well. Phil could literally not be any happier right now. “You guys- you guys will /not/ believe-” he choked excitedly, wiping at his eyes harshly. He shifted around on the floor, his headache practically disintegrating by the minute because of the surprise and excitement right now. As he made sure his shoulder was visible to his friends, he leaned against the wall in happiness. “I-I…Dan?” 

Dan’s eyes were so wide in shock, he swore they’d fall right out of their goddamn sockets. “I..I really don’t think I got one, Phil, I don’t think I would’ve missed it…?”

Phil shook his head, “I missed it last night- and- and you’ve got to have! That- that’s how soulmates work!” He exclaimed, raising his arm up to Dan, urging him to come down with him. Chris and PJ both stood, shocked. “Let’s look, can we?” 

They both practically undressed (well, as undressed as he could comfortably be) Dan on the spot to look for the tattoo. They couldn’t have simply missed it. 

He really, truly did not have one. 

Nowhere on his body. 

Chris and PJ figured it’d have been best to leave- or at least leave them alone for a bit to figure everything out. In other words, Phil could be heartbroken with less people around to judge him for it. “Why- is this not literally impossible?!” Phil exclaimed, his hot skin up against the cool wall on the floor of the bathroom. Dan was sat right next to him, his chest heaving silently. He felt guilty, even if it wasn’t his fault nor his choice. 

“I don’t know- I..” Dan trailed off softly, staring down at the floor, his hands fidgeting with each other in his lap. “I really don’t know what’s happened, but it’s..weird. And I’m so sorry. Maybe I’ll get one someday?” He rested his head on Phil’s shoulder, sighing silently. “I kind of feel bad.” 

It wasn’t fair, that was for damn sure. Not having a tattoo was worlds better than this. This was worse than heartbreak or the loneliness he felt earlier. This.../this/ was the pain he’d always dreaded. “S’not your fault, don’t need to worry about it.” Phil looked down at Dan, and an idea formed in his head. Did Dan’s offer from ages ago — the (sober) kiss — did it still stand? 

“I still feel bad.” 

“What even happened last night?” Phil questioned, screwing his eyes shut as if to try and fish for the answer. “I can’t remember shit ‘xcept the drinking and games and stuff. W-wait-”

It had clicked in both Dan and Phil’s heads at the same time, what had happened at the party between them, that is. 

“We didn’t-”

“I-I think we did..” Phil mumbled, resting his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes and temples. “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, this is literally all my fault..” 

Dan removed his head from Phil’s shoulder with ease, furrowing his brows at Phil’s comment. “Tell me how it’s your fault?” 

Phil only shrugged at Dan’s retort. He didn’t know how it was his fault, he didn’t know how it was /anybody’s/ fault, really. He should’ve paid more attention in class about this, considering he’d never thought he’d actually be faced with something like this. “I don’t know. /I/ have the tattoo.” 

Dan sighed at Phil’s comment. “I know you do but- fuck, I don’t know. It’ll be fine, alright? Let’s get PJ and Chris back and they can take a look at it. Maybe they’ll find something.” 

Mere minutes later, Chris and PJ were let back into the bathroom to help them with their predicament. The four boys were sat on the floor as they talked and cried (that was just Phil though) and stared long and hard at the scratchy tattoo on Phil’s left shoulder. How could this have happened? 

Then they came up with an idea. Chris and PJ both rolled their sleeves up and rested their tattooed arms upon Phil’s shoulder, examining the styles. Something about Phil's, now that they both really took a good look at it, seemed.../off/. “I’ve seriously got no idea what it is, Phil, but it looks /weird/, y’know? I don’t remember mind looking so, like, /fake/,” Chris murmured as he brought his arm back down to his lap, shaking his head and sighing in despair. “Maybe you should go and see about it- like, with a tattoo artist. I’d really hate to say this but it might be, like, artificial? That’d explain why Dan doesn’t have one either.” 

It all clicked on Dan’s mind after what Chris had brought up. “Fuck,” he mumbled, nodding and standing up, reaching down for Phil. “We’re definitely going to get this checked out. Now that I think about it, someone pro’lly could’ve given you a tattoo last night. We need to go- if it’s fake, we have no idea where the needles and ink and shit came from, we’ll need to get it checked out before it gets infected or anything, okay?” 

Phil silently swallowed and nodded obediently, standing up and following his friends. They got ready in pure silence, as did they do in the car on the way to the tattoo parlour. Thank God it was Friday afternoon and they were, in fact, open. 

The bells atop the doorframe let out an unfamiliar jungle and Phil, having been the first one to walk in, shuddered slightly. It was chilly in here, it was decoratively very...dark and there wasn’t anybody around, as far as he could currently see. “Hello?” 

When the tattoo artist walked out from the back, she stood tall in front of the four young boys. “Come in,” said the woman, grinning and waving her hand towards herself, as if to imply they walk in further. They quietly — so, so quietly — walked through the parkour until they were face-to-face with Miss. Tall, Pink Hair, Tattoos and Piercings Everywhere. She looked fucking terrifying, if they — Phil especially — were being honest. 

She’s gotten her fair share of young teenagers in the shop before, and Phil wasn’t the first she’d seen who was looking for a test on legitimacy. “What would I be able to help you guy with today, then?” She asked, raising her eyebrows slightly. “Don’t be so scared, I won’t hurt c’ha.” 

Phil felt a bit relieved at how she was trying to be funny. “I..I, uh, got a tattoo last night, I want to see if it’s real?” 

“I can do that. Come this way. I’ll need your information though, is that ‘lright?”  
—  
It wasn’t too often she — which the boys have now found out her name (it’s Lynn) — got illegitimate tattoos caught. Usually, she inspected them, ran a few tests to see the kind of ink and if it was done with needles or naturally, and sent the teenager off on their merry way because it, usually, was legit and they simply had yet to find or see their soulmate’s tattoo in person. Sometimes, though, it wasn’t as good of news.

Phil was one of those unfortunate cases. 

Dan stood while Phil sat silently in his chair, waiting for the results. PJ and Chris stayed in the waiting room to give the possible soulmates a bit of space, and they reluctantly agreed. “So, I can tell from the few tests we ran that it’s not a legitimate soulmate tattoo, but that the ink you’ve got is perfectly safe and won’t harm you at all, unless you’ve got an allergic reaction to the ink, but I’ve never really seen that. I’m sorry, I bet you’ll find your soulmate someday, alright?” 

When Phil heard the news, he choked on his intake of breath. Dan knelt down next to the chair and looked up at Phil's, his eyes wide. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Phil, I-I don’t know what to say…” 

Lynn stood up and nodded silently, tucking her bright hair behind her ear. “I’ll just be right outside in case you need me. Take your time. I’m sorry again.” She stepped out silently to head to the back again. 

Dan and Phil both sat in silence for a good couple of minutes before Phil couldn’t help but choke on a short sob. Dan immediately pulled Phil up from the chair and enveloped him in a long hug, and since he was shorter, stood tall so Phil could feel happier. 

“I’m so sorry I’m so, like, destroyed? This is really weird, and just after Sophie and everything- God, I’m such a mess- I’m so sorry.” Phil rambled, sniffling into Dan’s shirt. In general, Phil wasn’t always very open with how he felt, so for him to be so upset about this really must’ve meant he was feeling hurt. “I just got so- so /excited/, I’d finally- I don’t know, I’d be normal for once. I’d get to fit in, and I’d have a soulmate, and it’d be someone who I’ve cared about and been best friends with for so /fucking/ long and it could’ve been perfect…” 

Dan had no idea to react. What was Phil trying to say, exactly? Did he secretly like Dan or something? “I-I understand, yeah, I get it. You shouldn’t have to have a tattoo to fit in though, I..that’s not very fair? I guess it kind of sucks losing someone you never really had…” he mumbled into Phil’s neck, sighing warmly on his skin. “It’ll be better though, really. It’s gotten marginally better with Sophie. It’ll get better here too.”

“You’re going to get a new soulmate,” Phil choked, dropping his arms from around Dan’s hips, wriggling out of Dan’s arms silently. “And I’ll hate myself because I wasn’t able to make anything work out.” Phil hated being vulnerable, really, but it’s like everything was spilling out uncontrollably and he seriously wasn’t able to manage his words on his own anymore, no matter how hard he’d tried. “I’m sorry- fuck, I’m really so sorry. I didn’t know I liked- /you/, I didn’t know it was this bad, this much, I’m sorry..” 

With a broken heart and no words to attempt to even start to comfort with, Dan shut his eyes at the news. Phil Lester — Phil-my-best-friend-Lester, Phil-I’ve-always-been-there-and-will-always-be-there-for-you-Lester, even Phil-I’ll-love-you-through-anything-Lester had just turned into Phil-I-have-a-crush-on-you-Lester. 

Dan was so utterly fucked, because he knew he had a crush on Phil too, but he was already so heartbroken and obviously they weren’t soulmates, so what’d be the point in them dating just to get utterly heartbroken all over again? “You don’t need to worry about any of that. I love you so much, whether we’re soulmates or whether we’re best friends our whole lives. Sometimes best friends are just as good, you know? You’ve been with me through everything and I love you — so, so much — for that, okay? You’re irreplaceable,” Dan tried to assure, letting out a breathy sigh. “I wish I was your soulmate. Whoever it ends up being will be lucky as hell, Phil Lester. Honestly. You really deserve everything I just can’t provide you.” 

“I want to be yours, too,” Phil muttered under his breath, shaking his head profusely. “You’ve already given me the world, Dan, I couldn’t even /ask/ for anything better. You’re..you’re everything to me.. and you always have been and you've never known it..” Phil trailed off. He was cold, so /cold/, he was crying and sad and he didn’t know if he’d ever get over this. He was utterly heartbroken and the metallic taste in his mouth was overwhelming. He felt like vomiting a bit, for the second time today. “I hate this. I’m sorry.” 

Dan stepped closer to Phil. “Please stop apologizing,” he mumbled, looking down to the ground in a desperate attempt to relieve the tension. “I love you, Phil. It’s not your fault you feel some way or another. I genuinely, really want to be your soulmate too. I wouldn’t be opposed if we actually got tattoos, let’s just put it this way, alright?” 

Phil let out a sad chuckle. “Like that’ll happen. You deserve so much better.” 

“Stop with that!” Dan exclaimed, looking up at Phil desperately. “It’s not true and you know it.” 

Phil, in turn, looked down between them. 

Had the gap between their chests been this small the whole time? 

“I don’t know what to say, then. It’s my fault. It’s my fault we fucking kissed last night and I shouldn't have gotten so drunk and I should’ve noticed the tattoo sooner- fuck, now I’ll have your name on my body forever and everyone will be, like, ‘oh, cool, so Daniel’s your soulmate?’ and I’ll have to be, like, ‘nah, he’s got a cooler soulmate, this was just from a party where someone decided it would be funny to make the soulmateless one deal with shit like that.’” 

They were chest to chest and Phil’s was heaving from speaking so much. “Could you literally stop talking for just one second,” Dan mumbled, looking up to the taller of the two, “and kiss me again to find out.” 

Butterflies fluttered in both of their stomach’s with pure adrenaline and excitement from Dan’s spontaneous and off-putting statement. He leaned up into Phil and grabbed his hips by the loops from his jeans, pulling their bodies closer as he initiated the connection of their lips together for the second time. They molded together better than Sophie and Dan’s ever had before, and the electricity they both felt while sober was more intense than any high, any amount of alcohol, any pain they’d ever felt before. 

It was, quite literally, literally pure bliss. 

When they pulled apart (hesitantly, at that, even though it only lasted a few seconds tops), Dan opened his eyes again. Phil’s cheeks were burning with redness…he’d probably never really kissed someone for real before, definitely not like that. Dan had experience, of course, but that was a million times better than he’d /ever/ expected it to have been. 

Suddenly the room started to feel warmer. As they stood together in silence, hands on hips, chest-to-chest, hearts beating together as if one, Dan finally spoke up. “We’re soulmates.” 

Phil couldn’t agree more. “That’s definitely what it’s supposed to feel like. I feel numb,” he let out a soft giggle, shaking his head slightly, resting his forehead on Dan’s. They stared into each other’s eyes softly, the air suffocating their presences in the best way possible. 

“I..I really, truly think I am so in love with you, for real this time.” 

Dan shut his eyes as he rubbed his thumbs along Phil's prominent hip bones. “I am so in love with you too, and that only confirmed it. This would be really nice if it lasted forever.” 

“It can.”  
—  
Once the boys had started laughing much too much to stand together anymore because they were such hopeless romantics, they’d joined hands and strode out to find Lynn again. They had come up with a special agreement together, and they knew everyone would be supportive, because they’d be /happy/, together at last. 

If the world didn’t want them to have tattoos, then fuck the world, because what even was ‘natural’ or ‘normal’, or soulmates at all? They didn’t know. 

With Lynn’s support and, well, her ink, they’d get each other’s names tattooed anyway, whether the ‘natural’ system liked it or not. After all, they were the best pair that showcased pure abnormality and passion — the soulmateless soulmates.


End file.
